A second suspected member of a murderous robbery crew linked to a string of overdose deaths targeting Manhattan LGBTQ clubgoers turned himself in early Monday, police said.
Robert DeMaio, 34. surrendered at the 5th Precinct stationhouse in Chinatown two days after an alleged co-conspirator, Jacob Barroso, 30, turned himself in.
Barroso was awaiting transfer to Central Booking Monday afternoon. A third man, Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, is still being sought.
DeMaio was one of a half-dozen gang members indicted by a Manhattan grand jury March 23 on murder, robbery, grand larceny and conspiracy charges in the killings of Washington, D.C. political consultant John Umberger and Brooklyn social worker Julio Ramirez.
Ramirez, 25, was found unconscious in a taxi on the Lower East Side on April 21, 2022, after he’d visited a gay nightclub, the Ritz Bar and Lounge on W. 46th St.
Umberger, 33, was found dead June 1 in an apartment on the Upper East Side. He had earlier visited the Q, a gay nightclub in Hell’s Kitchen.
At least five more people have died from overdoses after being slipped fentanyl-laced cigarettes or other drugs as they departed Manhattan bars and restaurants, cops said.
When they passed out, the robbers snatched their cellphones and use cash transfer apps to clean out their bank accounts, police said.
Renowned Lower East Side fashion designer Kathryn Marie Gallagher, who died July 24, 2022, was also added to the list of victims who died from drug overdoses on March 24.
Barroso is charged with murder, robbery, grand larceny and conspiracy. He’s expected to be arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday.
Police said at least 16 people, men mostly, were drugged and robbed in Manhattan between Sept. 19, 2021 and Aug. 14. Roughly half of them overdosed.